80td euro rear bumper vs 85td cali rear bumper
 

my buddy has an 80td parts car that has a trailer hitch that i would like to have on my 85td. my buddy briefly had an 85td also and said he looked at swapping out the hitch but he thought the whole rear bumper setup was too different. he lives an hour away so i cant just run over there and look. Anybody know? how different are they ?

well, I don't know what difference a cali bumper would be vs. a federal bumper, but I have both a euro and a federal, and I can look them over for you sometime soon...

odds are pretty good, that the hitch is attached to more than just the bumper though...

If its the trailer hitch that came from the factory with a euro bumper I would forget about removing it, at least that was the case with the euro sedan.

stevo, can you elaborate.

I few years ago I got a euro 82 240D, 5 spd with SLS and a factory trailer hitch which looked like it was actually part of the car, not just bolted in. One look convinced me I didn't really didn't need that hitch off.

That is wholly incorrect. The hits is part of the rebar underneath the shiny chrome. Not sure on TD but on sedan its an easy swap. However there is internal reinforcing that should probably be done if you plan on towing any serious weight. This is easy in a trunk, no clue about it on the wagon.

wholly incorrect? Ah, then please describe how you would unbolt the euro hitch, I'm not talking about the hitch that bolts up through the spare tire well.

You cant. You can unbolt the bumper which it is part of. More or less the same way you do it with a federal, however with the euros they have a bolt that runs through the from the trunk space where as a federal as studs welded to the frame.

im going to go take a look and attempt a swap, maybe saturday, ill post back with findings in the unlikely event anyone else ever needs this information

I don't know about your compatibility question, but I'm getting this hitch:
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10101/s-10101/p-100000366854/mediaCode-ZX/appId-10614520/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:10000036685410614520

I plan to tow a trailer with biodiesel drums and firewood. This one attaches to the frame, so it should be good. I'm also upgrading to 1st generation w126 brakes to have the benefit of vented rotors all around.:cool:

The hitch on the euro sedan I had was not one you could just unbolt and it was not connected to the flimsy euro bumper at all.

i went and checked it out today. did not get it. probably could have been accomplished through a bumper swap, but that in itself would have required mods added to missing side cover pieces on the euro and rust everywhere and the euro bumper is kinda wimpy and small. it looked like a factory hitch, had a plate with german writing all over it. was a big square steel tube that was attached to the frame, the hitch bolted on to the bottom of the tube and the chromey bumper piece bolted on to the back of the tube. removal of the bumper/hitch assembly was not possible from underneath the car. I gave up there.

Whats "flimsy" about the euro bumpers? Its thicker steel than the feds.

Have you ever removed/installed a euro bumper? Should have been very oblivious which is the stouter. But thats just my take when comparing the two.